Is Catholic anarchism possible?

[StudentMI]

I know there have been threads about this before, but I see a lot of new faces around here and I wondered what opinions were now.

So, there are numerous encyclicals like Immortale Dei and the great social encyclicals, not to mention the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, that touch on government. There are never any statements saying there can be no government. They all treat government as natural.

But in my search for documents that condemn anarchism specifically, the best I can come up with is the Catholic Encyclopedia article on the matter.

http://newadvent.org/cathen/01452a.htm

That condemns anarchism, but there are various strains of anarchism. The kind they are describing is perhaps the most popular kind which rejects hierarchy altogether, which would do away with the family and Church.

However, there are other, more traditional minded anarchists such as Dorothy Day, Peter Maurin, various anarcho-capitalists, who do not reject the family or hierarchy as far as the Church goes. So I’m wondering, is a Catholic anarchism possible? Anarchism in this sense would simply be the absence of coercive government, not the absence of hierarchies of all kinds.

I’m not interested in whether anarchism is possible itself, as I don’t personally feel it is. I think it would dissolve into city states. I’m just wondering if in theory one can be a Catholic and an anarchist.

Thanks.

 

[Johann_du_Toit]

On a theological level a total absence of any form of authority would be in breach of the 4th Commandment.

On a practical level, without any form of government human civilization would devolve into a Mad Max style dystopia. There are only means to prevent murder, rape, pillaging etc, namely via virtue or force, and some malefactors sadly choose, by their own free will, to have no virtue.

 

[po18guy]

1. Anarchy is not a stable condition. It is transitional.
2. How does love comport with anarchy?
3. How does obedience to God comport with obedience to self?

I think you know the answer.

 

[TK421]

Political definitions have a tendency to shift and change every other week and there are endless definitions that individual people use for them. That’s why it’s difficult or impossible to find official Church documents that specifically condemn so-and-so definition. Also, the Church doesn’t officially condemn something unless it becomes a widespread and long-lasting issue.

But because there’s a 2000+ year tradition of governments playing a role in the welfare of human beings and the Church supporting that role, I don’t think you can successfully argue that the Church is at all supportive of anarchy. Probably the most critical role of government is its role in justice / social justice to serve as an impartial arbiter between private parties, but there are other roles as well. Again, you can split hairs if you want and come up with a novel and unconventional definition of anarchism but I’m not personally going to wade into that conversation.

 

[Cirdan_XII]

Anarchism is traditionally associated with left-wing type anarchism, which is very anti clerical as it thinks the Church, and indeed any form of organized religion, has been or is instrumental in propping up structures, regimes and ways of thinking that wish to oppress or enslave people. Leading anarchists have condemned the church harshly, and in the Spanish Civil War, for example, anarchist troops looted and set fire to hundreds of churches, desecrated holy relics, cold-bloodedly murdered priests, monks and nuns etc. So it is obvious that there is no friendhip lost between the church and anarchists, and it is logical if the same Church is not jumping up and down at the opportunity of praising anarchism.

In recent times there has been a different definition of anarchism, more along the lines of anarcho-capitalism, that does not seek to eliminate all traditional structures of authority, but merely wants to make them voluntary. In most countries, membership of the Church already is volunatry and so such a change would not harm the church. In fact it might even benefit the church, as the church is often locked in struggles with organizations (such as Planned Parrothood) who do get government support and who thus use tax money to seek to attack, discredit and undermine the church.

I don’t know if the church has really studied or reacted to this new form of anarchism. But catholic thinkers such as Chesterton have in a way contributed to the emergence of this thinking. So I don’t consider it anti-Catholic. On the contrary.